Self-managed teams can offer several possible advantages that could be used at Sandwich Blitz; including stronger commitment, employee and customer fulfillment, improved quality, improved productivity, and faster product and service development. On the other hand there will be some drawbacks. Self-managed teams are tough to execute, and failure is a risk when used in an unsuitable situations, or lacking appropriate leadership. A number of organizations have been dissatisfied with the results from self-managing teams. In the case of Sandwich Blitz, self-management teams may work to a sure extent, for example, having the team members cross-trained to do various jobs.
Self-Managed Teams Dalman and Lei have been experiencing some severe time restraints lately when attempting to handle the day-to-day activities within Sandwich Blitz. As we have seen, Dalman has had his focus pulled away from the expansion project to handle issues within the different locations of the company. Here we will take a look at the potential impacts when considering the self-managed team approach. Self-managed teams are comprised of individuals that are trained to handle most of the responsibilities within their department. There is no direct supervisor to report to, and individuals are provided with the capacity to make important decisions that would previously be handled by a supervisor in a conventionally structured organization.
Individuals who are hired from outside the organization to be department managers, on the other hand, often have a very difficult transition into the organization and make decisions that are in conflict with the corporate culture. They are seen as outsiders who do not really “get” what it means to be part of the Tanglewood family. The current method of selection for external managers looks very much like the method of selection for store associates. All applicants complete a brief job application form which provides information on education and years of work experience. Some pilot stores also have begun using the Marshfield Applicant Exam and Retail Knowledge test (described in the measurement case), and based on the validation evidence described earlier, this will become a regular part of the selection procedure across the chain.
A large number of people understand the need to understand and adopt new innovations when they are beneficial but not many understand what happens when such innovations do not succeed. Researchers know that such letdown is important knowledge because it can either add to the next great success or give key potholes to avoid when developing their own products or services. In either case success and failure equally have a beneficial impact on the development of the economic market. Even when innovations do not succeed organizations they would do well to attempt to gather this information in an attempt to incorporate such findings within their own innovative processes. At times such failures can direct to higher levels of development and better understanding at less cost to the researching organizations.
Team members were required to accomplish work in their respective departments in addition to being on this core team. This move created a narrower span of control within the company. This narrow span of control was intended to speed up decision-making within the company; however, it encouraged overly tight supervision and discouraged employee autonomy. Beaumont continued to have the company organized functionally, however he created a formalized process for product development. He thought cross-functional teams would allow MediSys to outmaneuver competitors by speeding up the product development process.
The method that Tanglewood currently uses to hire managers is similar to the method that is used to hire store associates. I feel that a change is required when it comes to the selection plan if Tanglewood expects to hire the best employees out there. The department manager position requires that the potential employees take on a greater responsibility, and perform their work more intelligently. So in order to accomplish that, and hire employees that will perform those types of duties, Tanglewood must tailor our selection methods to match the specific KSAO’s that are required for the position. The more closely we measure the applicants KSAO’s to match to what is required for the position at hand the better results we would produce.
The hierarchical structure is good but it has disadvantages as well for example employees from the bottom of the chain are not able to contact the Sainsbury’s board of directors to discuss the problems that affect the whole company from their perspective. Everything has to travel from level to level before it reaches the appropriate departments e.g. Production, IT, Sales departments. Sainsbury’s use the traditional hierarchical structure, which clearly defines each employee’s role within the organisation; it also defines the nature of their relationship with other employees. Using this hierarchical structure offers a lot of benefits and advantages when a business becomes as big as Sainsbury’s.
A manager that only managed existing, successful companies may not know how to quickly grow a start-up business, which Bizland really needs. Secondly, there is mention of a heavy focus on interpersonal skills, but there are no specifics in the listed criteria. What exceptional leadership skills are they really looking for? Again, I believe they are trying to encompass too many things into one broad category. The criteria should include various, specific interpersonal skills that they would like to see.
The “Domtar Difference,” as it is called, is reflected in the statement, “tapping the intelligence of the experts, our employees.” Employees must be motivated to become involved in developing new ways of doing things. The company was aware that in order to motivate its employees that it would have to supply some type of reward system. The company wanted the employees’ attitudes to change, to be more open to accepting change. The success hinged on internal structural changes. Domtar’s’ managers allowed its employees to be a part of the change not just accept it.
It is one thing to list the things that are required to be completed each day, but it is another thing to teach the best way to do those duties and even more on how a person in that position can offer a bigger value than just getting it done. The value comes from the small details that she can offer, such as proofreading your manager’s reports so he doesn't give the perception to his staff of being a poor writer. These smaller details can often times be bigger than the entire job description together. Toya could have helped in this interaction also in knowing she had areas of weakness she noticed in past positions she worked in. She also could have opened herself up to accept feedback in a positive way.